The Big Ten, in the hopes of bolstering its already lucrative TV rights package, is exploring expansion again and is in “serious negotiations” with Maryland, first reported by ESPN and then confirmed by The Washington Post and Yahoo! Sports.

And should Maryland agree to leave the conference it helped create in 1953, ESPN says Rutgers then would leave the Big East and accompany the Terrapins and give the Big Ten an even 14 teams.

Those two moves would provide the Big Ten with access into the mega-TV markets of New York (No. 1), Washington, D.C. (No. 9) and Baltimore (No. 26).

Maryland president Wallace Loh is reportedly negotiating with Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany but has many big hurdles to clear to make it happen.

Most significant is the $50 million exit fee Maryland would be required to pay to leave the ACC. That would be a major hurdle for a financially struggling athletics department that recently had to eliminate seven sports programs—men’s swimming, women’s swimming, men’s tennis, women’s water polo, acrobatics and tumbling (formerly known as competitive cheer), men’s cross-country and men’s indoor track.

Maryland was one of two ACC schools (Florida State being the other) that voted against the conference's exit fee hike to $50 million. The exit fee had previously been $20 million.

A move to the Big Ten could be a tough sell to the Maryland fans.

"For myself, having played at Maryland, I'm hoping we don't go to the Big Ten,'' former basketball coach Gary Williams told Sporting News’ David Steele two years ago. "We've been in the ACC from the beginning. We've built up rivalries for the past 50-60 years. I think people would miss that. If all of a sudden we stopped playing Duke and stopped playing North Carolina, people would really miss that.”

Just two months ago, the ACC added Notre Dame in all sports except football, giving the league 15 basketball teams and 14 in football. Should Maryland leave the conference, Connecticut of the Big East likely would be invited to fill the void.

Since Notre Dame joined the ACC, the Big Ten has been looking to add to the conference, sources told ESPN.

Should Rutgers or UConn leave the Big East, they each would be required to pay a $10 million exit fee. They also could be forced to remain in the Big East for 27 months, although West Virginia, Pitt and Syracuse all were allowed to leave sooner.

Even a relatively low $10 million exit fee could be a problem for Rutgers. According to The Newark Star-Ledger, the Rutgers athletics department lost $26.8 million in the 2010-11 fiscal year.

If the exit fees can be resolved, the moves would be financially beneficial for Maryland and Rutgers.

Maryland, in the ACC's new TV deal announced in May, would receive $17 million per year. The Big Ten paid out $24.6 million per school in the last fiscal year. The Big East TV deal is currently being negotiated but is certain to fall short of the Big Ten's annual payout.